Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111460
forefront a range of issues in terms of investments, stocks and commodities, and they're in the research labs, looking for the next big thing that will take agriculture to a point where it can feed 50 per cent more people by 2050." It seems to go against common sense: As our global food and fibre requirements rapidly increase, Australia will have trouble supplying enough graduates to fill agriculture jobs in our country. Many professionals in this field point to the tarnished image of agriculture careers in contemporary Australia as the reason why students are hesitant to move into these fields, and they are working to counter this by spreading the good word. Lynne Strong, for example, runs an organisation called Art4Agriculture, which aims to give young Australians a positive perspective on careers in agriculture, to show them that such careers can be promising and rewarding. And she agrees that not all agriculture career paths are farm-based. Fast Fact Her organisation is working to instil innate Of the 134,000 farm awareness of the diversity of exciting businesses in Australia, agriculture career paths in our society. 99% are family owned and "We have this big-picture vision for operated. On average, each agriculture in our country," says Strong. Australian farmer produces "We want a dynamic, innovative, exciting enough food for 600 and profitable agrifood sector that the next people: 150 in Australia; generation sees as the place they want to be." 450 overseas. Art4Agriculture is taking the direct route to improve public perception of agriculture careers by getting into schools and engaging young people in discussions about farming and agriculture. It does this via two programs. The Archibull Prize invites schools to participate in the decoration of a life-size fibreglass bull. The decoration must be done after research into a given topic (usually an area of agriculture, such as the cotton industry) and must demonstrate the value of this sector to Australian society and the challenges it faces. The second initiative is the Young Farming Champions program, whereby young professional farmers are brought into schools to give a firsthand account of what it's like to work in the industry. "We've selected exciting young farmers to be the faces of our program," says Strong. They give their Left: Australian personal accounts of what it's like to work in school students agriculture with modern facilities and technology. preparing their Strong says the feedback from students and teachers Archibull Prize indicates the students are able to connect with these entries after young farmers in a way that might not be achieved researching a given agriculture topic. with books and other resources. 53